Crabapple timeline

[sandbur]

These are extremely variable in apple size. Many are just bird sized and 90% are not winter hardy.


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[sandbur]

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[DrDirtNap]

Awesome thread Sandbur! Crabapples like your place!


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[sandbur]

Kerr held the handful of apples that I did not pick for all winter.


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[H20fwler]

Excellent pictorial and timeline info sandbur! Very good information.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

From the pix, it's clear the deer know where all your crabs and apples are !! Great job on the pictures and timeline. You have a really good selection of crabs there, with some good late season hangers too.

 

[DLH]

What made you grow the seedlings easier to get cold hardy varieties?

 

[sandbur]

What made you grow the seedlings easier to get cold hardy varieties?

Do you mean, how did I get cold hardy varieties?


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[DLH]

Yes did you grow the seedlings from cold hardy varieties? I’m guessing cold hardy varieties are harder to find than the normal disease resistant varieties.

 

[sandbur]

Yes did you grow the seedlings from cold hardy varieties? I’m guessing cold hardy varieties are harder to find than the normal disease resistant varieties.

Two years, I grew trees from wild crabs that were one inch in diameter. One year I used a grafted Dolgo as a seed source.
One year, I used some big yelllow apples from a farm that had a huge old tree.

My wife’s Grandma always used seeds from her own seedlings and she gave me a handful of trees.

The last few years, I have just started a few seedlings but have used open pollinated seedlings or this year, it was open pollinated seeds from named varieties.


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[S.T.Fanatic]

This is very helpful as I am in the early planning stages of my crab journey. I'm only going to be starting with 8 trees this year (trees will obviously be used to feed deer but I am also using them for makers for my "strip plot")

 

[gunfun13]

As someone just getting started creating a crabapple mecca, this thread is very exciting to see.

 

[weekender21]

Great thread, it’s impressive to see trees still holding in March and April.


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[DLH]

Two years, I grew trees from wild crabs that were one inch in diameter. One year I used a grafted Dolgo as a seed source.
One year, I used some big yelllow apples from a farm that had a huge old tree.

My wife’s Grandma always used seeds from her own seedlings and she gave me a handful of trees.

The last few years, I have just started a few seedlings but have used open pollinated seedlings or this year, it was open pollinated seeds from named varieties.


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I’ve grown seedlings a few times but they struggled with disease. I wouldn’t mind trying some seeds from known disease resistant t apples here. Do you grow a lot and then cull slow growers or disease prone seedlings?

Do you know of anyone grafting these farther south?

 

[sandbur]

Two years, I grew trees from wild crabs that were one inch in diameter. One year I used a grafted Dolgo as a seed source.
One year, I used some big yelllow apples from a farm that had a huge old tree.

My wife’s Grandma always used seeds from her own seedlings and she gave me a handful of trees.

The last few years, I have just started a few seedlings but have used open pollinated seedlings or this year, it was open pollinated seeds from named varieties.


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I’ve grown seedlings a few times but they struggled with disease. I wouldn’t mind trying some seeds from known disease resistant t apples here. Do you grow a lot and then cull slow growers or disease prone seedlings?

Do you know of anyone grafting these farther south?

Turkey Creek might still have some of these. I sent the Garden Crab to him and called it Big Dog. He also has or had Yellow Dog. Not sure if he got a stick of Guard Dog.

At first I tried to save every seedling, but now I just pull out the slow growers.
Disease prone cull themselves.


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[Mortenson]

I was about to ask about that. I recall your "Big Dog" and that you had thought it might be a Columbia? I grafted a Columbia onto a M111 last year and it grew well, will be ready for transplanting this year.

Interesting to see those Chestnut crabs hang so late. When would you say the bulk of them drop? I know it's considered an early to mid season crab, but that'd be nice if it did kind of a slow drop.

 

[sandbur]

I was about to ask about that. I recall your "Big Dog" and that you had thought it might be a Columbia? I grafted a Columbia onto a M111 last year and it grew well, will be ready for transplanting this year.

Interesting to see those Chestnut crabs hang so late. When would you say the bulk of them drop? I know it's considered an early to mid season crab, but that'd be nice if it did kind of a slow drop.

For me, chestnut crabs are a slow drop over the month of Sept and a bit of October.

Those deer in the spring were mostly cleaning up on windfalls under the chestnut. My chestnuts currently have just an occasional apple or two.

I think Garden, Big Dog, is a Columbia crab.
Hard and largely inedible for us.


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[Jhoss]

Great Thread Sandbur!

 

[blueKYstream]

I enjoyed seeing all the pictures!

 

[Kooch]

Good work Sandbur. Great thread.